


The Foolishness of Youth

by Jehans_Sugardaddy



Category: Notre-Dame de Paris | The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - All Media Types, Notre-Dame de Paris | The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - Victor Hugo
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26915299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jehans_Sugardaddy/pseuds/Jehans_Sugardaddy
Summary: Jehan convinces Esmeralda to help him make a fool out of Claude.Story takes place in an AU where Jehan and Esmeralda are friends.
Relationships: Claude Frollo & Jehan Frollo, Esméralda | Esmeralda & Djali, Esméralda | Esmeralda & Jehan Frollo, Esméralda | Esmeralda & Robin Poussepain, Esméralda | Esmeralda/Claude Frollo, Esméralda | Esmeralda/Claude Frollo/Jehan Frollo, Jehan Frollo & Robin Poussepain
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	The Foolishness of Youth

La Esmeralda and Jehan Frollo du Moulin.At first glance, the two were as different as night and day. Her hair was as dark as a raven's wing, while his was as golden as the sun. Her skin was tanned and dark, while his was milky white. Her dark eyes held innocence and childlike wonder, while his blue ones always glowed with mischief.

In personality too, they were polar opposites. She was diligent where he was lazy, and as innocent and pure as he was vulgar. She hoped for love; he hoped for pleasure. But, like day and night, they complimented one another. She was always there to soothe him when he got himself into trouble and in turn, he taught her to read and write. When he was too poor to afford a meal, she gave him food. When she needed a laugh, he'd make her smile. This strange friendship was a well-kept secret of theirs. Unlike Esmeralda, Jehan was well aware of the affections his brother harboured for the Egyptian. The scholar knew he could always make his brother give him money simply by mentioning Esmeralda, but decided to play clueless instead for now.

"The time isn't right," he thought as he pretended to listen to his brother's latest lecture. After getting money from the priest, the young scholar left Notre Dame and headed towards the corner of the parvis where a certain Egyptian was entertaining the crowd. He watched her as she danced, but Esmeralda failed to spot him; she was lost in her performance. Jehan lifted his eyes towards his older brother's chamber. He found the archdeacon at the window, his lustful gaze fixated on the dancer.

"Neither of them has noticed I'm here. Perhaps they are destined for each other after all." Jehan snickered. He shook his head. "Well, no matter. I'll just go and entertain myself someplace else."

*************************

That night, Jehan came over to Esmeralda's house once he was sure her failed poet of a husband was asleep. As he entered the house, a small white goat ran over to him, bleating happily. A warm smile made its way onto Jehan's lips as he bent down to pet her soft fur.

"Ah, as much as you claim she annoys you, you seem awfully fond of Djali," said a soft female voice in a hushed tone.

"Well, she is quite lovely, is she not?" the boy answered with a shrug.

"Indeed.Now, come in and sit down," whispered Esmeralda, gesturing towards a wooden chair in her room.

"How has your day been?" he asked as he sat and drank some wine that the girl provided him with.

"Oh, you know. I danced, collected money, and came back here. I left Gringoire behind to finish his performance and that infernal priest followed me again on my way home." Esmeralda stroked Djali's soft fur as she spoke. The goat had fallen asleep with her head on her mistress' lap.

"So my brother is still pursuing you?" Jehan poured himself another glass of wine, trying not to smirk as the girl's dark eyes widened and her brow furrowed.

"Your brother?"

"Yes, my brother," replied the younger Frollo in an even tone, as if what he was saying was the most obvious thing in the world. Esmeralda remained silent. She had been friends with Jehan for a long time but she still couldn't stop the doubt and worry that started forming in her heart. Had Jehan been lying to her this whole time? Was he working with his brother to capture her? Or what if Jehan was the same as his brother? 

"Anyway, what do you say we make a fool out of him?" proposed the boy, leaning closer.

"Pardon?" 

"What do you say we make a fool out of my brother?" he repeated with a mischievous glint in his light blue eyes.

Esmeralda let out a disappointed sigh. "You are drunk." She reached for his glass but Jehan quickly pulled it away from her small hands.

"Not yet, my dear," said the scholar, with a wide grin. The girl pouted and rolled her eyes but Jehan continued. "Now, listen. I have a plan but I can't do it without your help. I promise you that neither of us will regret it."

Esmeralda was intrigued, that she couldn't deny. But she was also scared and worried. What if this plan of Jehan's went wrong? What would the priest do to them-to her? She glanced at the sleeping goat in her lap before hesitantly looking up to meet the boy's expecting gaze.

"Alright. I shall accept your offer. Now, tell me your plan." 

Her friend smirked, making Esmeralda instantly regret her decision. They spent the next hour and a half discussing their plans and making preparations. The teenagers decided to put their plan in motion the very next day.

**************************

La Esmeralda stirred from sleep as the sun's warm rays bathed her room. She got up quickly and let out a heavy sigh as she remembered the plan she's made with Jehan. Esmeralda was still unsure about all of this but decided to trust her friend. She dressed, grabbed her tambourine and walked out of her small house with Djali in tow. The two made their way towards the square in front of Notre Dame where they often performed. There, the young girl caught sight of a familiar mass of blond hair.

She ran up to Jehan and the two revised their plan once again. After this, the blond left to avoid raising suspicion by being seen with her. As soon as he was gone, La Esmeralda started her performance. Her movements were slow at first, but they soon grew wilder and faster. A crowd began to form around the dancer. The rhythm of her tambourine cut through the peace and quiet of the morning.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced now and then at a certain window, catching glimpses of a tall figure with broad shoulders. His bald head and hungry eyes sent shivers down the girl's spine. However, she continued her dance as though she had seen nothing.

Dom Claude Frollo observed the sight before him. As she so often was, La Esmeralda was dancing in the middle of the parvis of Notre Dame. But... something was different. The archdeacon's attentive eye noticed a slight change in her dancing. Her movements were wilder, freer, more… seductive than usual. As much as he appreciated the difference, it made his chest fill with worry and envy. What inspired this change? Who inspired it? Was this provocative new dance dedicated to some suiter? The priest didn't know the answer to any of these questions. All he knew was that he didn't like whoever his Egyptian's special person was.

**************************

It was already past noon when Esmeralda and Djali finished collecting money for their performance. The child could still feel the priest's eyes on her back. She shivered and walked far away from his predatory gaze. Girl and goat made their way to La Pomme d'Eve, an infamous wine-shop. There, a familiar form greeted them. Jehan Frollo, who had been drinking with his good friend Robin Poussepain, got up and walked over to them with a wide grin. At the smell of wine coming from the boy, Esmeralda's face contorted in disgust. She covered her nose, but took a seat beside him.

The three teens sat down at the table and ordered some more wine. After they drank their alcohol, they revised their plan once again. Everything needed to work perfectly. Jehan had decided to bring Robin in on the plan for safety reasons. The boy was more than eager to help out, knowing well Jehan's plans were always a lot of fun.

After going over their plan one final time, they paid for their drinks and walked out. With a nod of their heads, they parted ways. La Esmeralda and Djali headed towards Notre Dame, while Jehan and Robin went towards the same place but took a different path.They couldn't risk being seen with the Egyptian as that would raise suspicion. Once they had all arrived, they pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the cathedral and headed inside. Esmeralda shivered with fear and excitement. She had never set foot inside Notre Dame before. The beauty of the architecture made her gasp. She couldn't understand the meaning behind the details, but the effect was striking nonetheless.

The girl was so taken by the beauty of the cathedral that she failed to notice that the group had made it to their destination until Robin pinched her arm. Esmeralda glared at him for a moment, before noticing a man standing a few yards away. The mere sight of him made the girl's blood run cold. She wanted to run and hide as far away from him as she could, but there was no going back now. She glanced at Djali and the boys one last time before making her way towards the priest.

Esmeralda's friends watched her as she approached the archdeacon. Jehan saw the fear in her dark eyes, like a cow walking to the slaughterhouse. He would be lying if he said he wasn't worried. Nevertheless, he sighed quietly and hid with Djali and Robin. He couldn't let his brother see them. Not yet. Claude hadn't yet noticed the girl creeping up on him. He was too busy analysing the various statues and their meaning.

Once she was standing practically right next to the priest, Esmeralda threw one more nervous look at her friends before making her presence known by clearing her throat. The elder Frollo turned with a rebuke for the interruption on his lips - but once he saw who was standing next to him, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. There before him was none other than La Esmeralda. His Esmeralda. The girl who had plagued his mind since the day he had first laid eyes on her. She had always looked afraid when Claude was around, but now she was standing before him with a smile on her angelic face.

Claude's heart was beating at an inhuman speed. He felt his temperature rise and blood rush to his cheeks. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but he found himself as motionless and mute as the statue he had been observing.

The girl looked at the man in front of her with a worried and questioning gaze. She was glad he had done nothing but stare at her with a blush on his face, but it was still unsettling. Esmeralda decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

"I noticed you staring at me today while I was dancing. Just like you do everyday," she said softly, looking at the ground. Dom Claude flinched at the sound of her voice. He didn't know what he should say nor what he wanted to say.But La Esmeralda was looking at him beseechingly with those big black eyes, waiting for his answer, and he could not deny her.

"I can't help it. Your dances are so bewitching. Try as I might, I can't keep my eyes off you. Ever since I first heard the sound of your tambourine, I've been unable to sleep. In my dreams, all I can see is you."

"I see..." the girl cut him off, discomfited by his confession. She tried her best to seem calm in his presence.

"But this morning... I noticed a change..." the priest said suddenly, making Esmeralda look back up at him. His tone had changed, she noticed. It sounded more ominous than before.

"The way you danced - it wasn't the same as yesterday or the day before. No, I could tell something has changed. This morning, you were even more alluring than usual." When he looked at Esmeralda, for a moment he saw nothing on her face but confusion and disgust. But she quickly regained her composure and managed a very forced smile.

"I'm glad you noticed." she smirked, making Claude raise a thick eyebrow. She then leaned in, getting closer and closer to his face. The priest could feel his face burning as the whole world around him disappeared. All he could see was her. Fate had finally smiled on him. After all of those painful and sleepless nights, she was his at last. His patience and his suffering had been reworded. The sorceress had come to him in the end.

Esmeralda saw the bald man close his eyes and lean into her embrace. At the moment their lips were about to meet, the girl quickly and stealthily slipped her slender arm to his side and grabbed a tiny brown bag. Then she pushed him away and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Behind her, she heard her friends' laughter and Djali's happy bleats. Together, they ran until they made it out of Notre Dame.

After they were outside and far away from the older Frollo, the three teens stopped running and started laughing. When they finally calmed down, they headed towards Esmeralda's home. Upon entering the house, the trio and the goat sat down and glanced at what Esmeralda had managed to steal from the archdeacon. The small purse was full of money!

The three troublemakers exchanged wicked smiles. To celebrate, Esmeralda made a nice meal for them all to share. After they had eaten, they decided to go spend their newly obtained money. They returned to La Pomme d'Eve and spent the rest of the day there.

But what about Dom Claude Frollo? Saying he wasn't pleased would be an understatement. No, the archdeacon was livid. He realised, although too late, that this was all a ploy. The little temptress had tricked him, robbed him, and - as if that weren't enough - made a fool out of him in front of his brother and Robin Poussepain.

The priest clawed at what little hair he had left and cursed the witch. He knew very well that this experience would change his relationship with Jehan forever. His brother would never let him live this shameful experience down. If he tried to lecture the scholar or to refuse to give him money, the boy would just threaten to make all Paris aware of Claude's shame.

***************************

That night, the three teens went to bed with satisfied smirks on their faces. They knew they were in trouble, especially Jehan. The young scholar knew he wouldn't hear the end of it once the older brother got hold of him. But he knew he could use this against Claude as well. And the thought of having something to scold or threaten his brother with made a wide grin spread across his face.

Dom Claude wasn't as cheery as his brother. He spent most of the night seething and regretting what he had allowed to happen. And when he finally managed to drift off to sleep, all he found there was Esmeralda's form. She danced so beautifully until she saw Claude - and then her dancing was replaced abruptly by her mocking laughter. This terrible nightmare made the man jolt awake. Needless to say, the priest's mood the following day was even worse than his usual ill humour.

As for Esmeralda, the girl feared she had dug her own grave. She knew she shouldn't have let Jehan talk her into this, shouldn't have encouraged his menacing brother. However, she couldn't deny the fun she had doing it, nor the sense of pride that followed after she stole his money. She might come to regret this decision in time, but for now she decided to enjoy this feeling of mirth and accomplishment while it lasted.

The only one who went to bed that night with zero regrets was the little goat. Djali simply enjoyed the time she got to spend with her mistress and her friends, as well as the tasty food she got as a result of her owner's little heist.

***************************

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much souberbielle for editing the fic, as well as suggesting some words and phrases to make it more enjoyable💖💖💖


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